Washington Football Team’s “next man up” philosophy evident in 2020

Young secondary showing growth

After Josh Norman’s release and the Quinton Dunbar trade, Washington was down their top two cornerbacks from last season. In the offseason, the team brought back Kendall Fuller on a four-year, $40 million contract and added Ronald Darby on a one-year, $3 million deal.

Fuller started off on fire, getting four interceptions during Weeks 4-6. Although his numbers have fallen off a bit since then, he is still playing at a high level for Washington. Josh Norman far underperformed his five-year, $75 million contract with Washington, so as long as Fuller performs at a level consistent with his contract, this will be a win for the Washington Football Team.

Fuller has missed a few games this season with injuries, but has been able to play at a level fairly similar to his injury-adjusted valuation, per Over the Cap.

Ronald Darby, who dealt with injuries his three past seasons, signed a one-year prove-it deal with the Washington Football Team, and thus far, he has proven that he is worth a bigger contract. After allowing a 116.8 passer rating and 64.2% completion rate when targeted in 2019, Darby was ranked as one of PFF’s worst cornerbacks in the league.

He has rebounded greatly, allowing a 55.7% completion rating and 85.7 passer rating when targeted thus far in 2020. He also dropped his missed tackle percentage from 15.9% last season to 9.4% this year. The biggest thing with Darby has been staying healthy, and he has done that this year, playing in all of Washington’s 13 games thus far.

In Week 11 against Cincinnati, the Bengals kept targeting Darby, but he showed up big, finishing the week with the fourth-highest coverage grade per PFF.

Darby had big shoes to fill, as Dunbar was a fan favorite and many thought Washington didn’t get fair value for him in their trade with Seattle.

Darby has outplayed Dunbar this season, as Dunbar has allowed a 64.8% completion percentage and a 111.0 passer rating when targeted. Darby’s PFF rating is 76.7 compared to Dunbar’s 47.7, which isn’t much higher than Darby’s was in 2019.

Dunbar has also dealt with a chronic knee injury that has kept him out for multiple games this year. Based on Over the Cap, Darby has played at a level that is worth more than double what he is making with Washington, so I would say he has done a good job of being ready when he’s called upon.

When Landon Collins went down with a season-ending injury, many pundits were thinking Washington would sign Eric Reid. Rivera wanted to see what he had in Kam Curl and offered Reid a practice squad position, which he declined. It’s looking like that decision hurt Reid more than it impacted Washington, as Kurl has proved to be a great late-round find for Kyle Smith and the team.

Curl has started eight games for Washington and has done a good job filling in for Collins. He allows a 91.9 passer rating when targeted compared to 87.9 for Collins. He does go for the big hits but has a far lower missed tackle percentage compared to Collins. One of the advantages that Collins provided was his ability to get after the quarterback from his position. Curl has been able to provide that same value, as both he and Collins have two sacks this season.

Curl had a major impact in the win against the 49ers, taking an interception to the house to put Washington up 23-7.

Earlier this season, Coach Rivera compared Curl to a young Kendall Fuller.

"He’s such a smart football player, reminds me a little bit of a younger [Kendall] Fuller, a guy that can give you some position flex in case you have injuries or if you want to do some sub-package stuff."

And now here we are a little over a month later, and Curl’s continuous progression is leading some columnists to wonder about Collins’ future with the team.

If that doesn’t signify being ready when your number is called, I don’t know what does.